The Nintendo GameCube is the first Nintendo console to use discs to store the games. Unlike other consoles at the time, the GameCube uses small discs instead of full-size DVDs.

The GameCube also had many new features compared to other Nintendo video game consoles, and was the first Nintendo console to officially support Internet play (playing together without wires). It could also connect to the Game Boy Advance to allow special features in some games.

The console was released on September 14, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe and May 17, 2002 in Australia. The GameCube sold 21.74 million units worldwide.[1]

The GameCube's controllers have two analog joysticks. In many games, one of them is used to control a character, while the other is used to control the camera, or some other secondary function. In addition to the analog sticks and the directional pad (D-pad), there are eight buttons: A, B, Y, X, L, R, Z and Start.

Nintendo later released a wireless version of the controller, called the WaveBird. Instead of wires, it used RF signals to communicate with the console and was powered by standard AA batteries.